September 19, 2016

Rattling around in my mind for the last few months have been the questions, “what are mission agencies for” and “do we really need them”?

I have some nagging worries.

The first is theological. Mission is about us (the church) joining in with the mission of God. Going and sending so that others might become disciples of Jesus and be gathered in church communities. There are many dimensions to this but ecclesiology matters and is an integral part of this. My concern is that pan evangelical agencies downplay ecclesiology (because it divides evangelicals) which ultimately harms the mission of God.

The second is the viability of organisations with decreasing numbers of long (5 years plus) and mid-term (1-5 years) term missionaries, an ageing supporter base and a financial reliance on legacies.

The third is whether mission agencies are able to help us face the challenges of tomorrow rather than give us the solutions of yesterday.

The backdrop to this is the world and church are changing.

Globalisation and the rapid spread of technology have transformed life on every continent. In Europe we are seeing huge migrations of people, as the result of war, poverty and instability in the Middle East and Africa; with millions now living as refugees. The threat of terrorism grows, particularly connected with ISIS, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram and others. And the centre of Christianity has shifted from the north to the ‘global south’ changing the church landscape as well.

Increasingly it is the northern countries, particularly in Europe which need re-evangelising. Yet as the number of Christians declines (with consequences for the financial health of churches and Christian organisations) the churches which are growing understand themselves to be part of a missional movement. Denominational structures are becoming more flexible and new networks are emerging to encourage mission and discipleship.

So what of the mission agency? Are they to be consigned to history; relics from the 19th century whose role of taking the gospel from Europe to foreign lands is now over; well-meaning societies from the 20th Century who either never quite got to grips with the rise of Pentecostalism and impact of charismatic renewal or whose roots in youth ministry valued excitement over transformation?

The positive thing is there is good work being done. I’ve seen first-hand some excellent mission activity and I’ve met people, on the field and in organisational leadership, who are godly women and men with a commitment to the cause of Christ and the kingdom of God. I’ve benefited from their wisdom, experience and advice. Nevertheless there are issues of mobilisation, funding and reciprocal mission which need to be addressed. From the perspective of local church ministry, I think there are three questions which need to be considered if we are to build strong links between churches and mission agencies.

With whom and for whom does the agency work? I expect almost everyone to answer, we work for the kingdom of God, but my point is more about the people the agencies work with, both in the UK and overseas, and what they are seeking to do by working with them. The answer reveals the ethos and culture of the agency as well as how they handle issues of privilege, power and paternalism (either yours or theirs). Churches need agencies who embody best practice, who connect Churches into world mission in its myriad forms and who enable us to see with a global perspective not just a western one.

What does the agency do for / with those people who go with them? As a church we’ve had a policy for a decade or so that we only support people who go with a mission agency, because we believe that those going overseas need a structure of support and accountability, they need to be part of a network of people with skills and experience in similar situations to those they face. But my experience is that while some are really good at all this, there are others where, frankly, we would have done a better job overseeing the missionaries ourselves.

How does the agency work with the local church? Do they form partnerships or are they just fishing to build links with keen individuals who might become regular givers? Do they want to help churches engage in global mission or do they want the churches to support the agency in the work it does? In my experience partnering with churches overseas, working with the mission agency adds a layer of complexity and, for all the benefits, can be hard work: it is much easier to default to a ‘let’s support the agency to do mission on our behalf’ mode or engage in mission without using a mission agency.

At the risk of being a bit provocative (and filling the comments which show up gaps in my knowledge and understanding) I think the mission agencies of the future will be:

Facilitators not organisers. That is to say they help the global church engage in mission which is ‘from everywhere to everywhere’, but where the agency acts as networker rather than organiser: connecting churches, people and openings.

Mobilisers not recruiters. Working with churches to help them engage in mission (which might mean helping bring missionaries to UK to help here) where the emphasis is on engaging God’s people in God’s mission and not recruiting people to our agency.

Prophetic visionaries and advocates. Who open people’s eyes to what God is doing, to the needs around the world and who call us to respond to the challenges; avoiding the temptation to focus their communications on ‘good news stories’ to encourage their core supporters. Sometimes this will require a wide view of justice, environment and poverty; at other times it will be the challenge to focus on those areas least reached, to be strategic and committed to the long haul.

Specialist advisors and supporters. Using their experience and expertise to help churches and missionary partnerships to flourish; to equip UK churches to respond to the opportunities here and work with missionaries to the UK. There will also be a role for some specialist agencies who provide support to world missions and who bring together people with technical skills to benefit long term opportunities (for example Bible Translation).

What do you think? If you work for a mission agency do you think I’m being unfair about what you do now, or what I think the future will be?

August 18, 2016

A small team is accompanying me to Iquitos later in the year so I’ve been doing some thinking and preparation. One recurring question concerns the value of short term mission trips. Not just my Peru trips but more generally; as a church we have a steady stream of people going on a variety of short term mission trips so we have a responsibility to encourage good practice.

Some might ask what’s the problem? Broadly, I think there are five potential questions / pitfalls.

Short term mission is expensive and takes lots of resources.

The cost, often more than £1,000, and the fact that flying isn’t exactly environmentally friendly raise the question of whether the money wouldn’t be better used by giving it to the mission project directly. After all the costs might keep a locally supported partner worker funded for many months. But there are also hidden costs, in the time taken up organising the short term visit (which usually takes people who are in the host country away from their normal mission tasks).

Is it really mission?

The first trip I went on felt more like ecclesial tourism than mission; but then the purpose was to show me how money the church had given was used in a variety of projects so whilst it wasn’t really mission it was part of ‘the mission’. There’s a theological question at the heart of this but some mission trips seem more focused on giving those going a good experience than actually joining with the mission of God and engaging with the local people in a particular place.

It only benefits those going.

The internet is replete with examples of short term mission projects where the work done was largely made up to keep the volunteers busy (digging trenches, painting walls). At the end of the two or three weeks the volunteers leave with a sense of having done something but leaving little or nothing of value. What’s worse is examples of where teams come and do things which could be better done by employing someone locally (thus short termers deprive the local economy of work).

Creating expectation and dependency.

So imagine, every short term mission team arrives bringing gifts for the young children in the village as part of their ‘helping’ with the childrens work. Soon, everyone expects this and compared to the excitement of the visitors, the long term missionaries work with children seems really dull. It’s not just sweets of course, mission funding can create expectations and dependency which don’t help long term development.

It can be damaging to the hosts.

Worse than things that are not helpful are things which are harmful and detrimental to the hosts. In the last few months there has been a bit of a campaign trying to discourage orphanage volunteering in Africa and elsewhere. Why? Because there is evidence it is harmful to the children (details); they become normalised to lots of different people having access to them (in UK we protect vulnerable children and adults and guard them), they go through repeated cycles of attachment to people and then abandonment, and usually the volunteers have no training in how to work with vulnerable people or how to avoid their behaviour damaging the children emotionally. Added to which Save the Children estimated that 80% of those in orphanages are not actually orphans but are placed their because of the perception that they will have a better life and creating a demand for orphans and orphanages.

There are three good reasons why people shouldn’t just stay at home though.

Open your eyes to other people and cultures.

Short term trips give us an understanding of the situation other people live in which you can’t get from YouTube or Wikipedia. This understanding fuels our prayers for others and, potentially, helps us to be more welcoming to people coming to the UK from other places as we can an appreciation for other ways of living and doing.

Learn to see with new cultural eyes.

As well as opening our eyes we see things differently. We come to recognise that materially we are rich even if (by UK standards) we are poor; we may come to see that while we are materially rich we are poor in other ways. We also start to see our own mission context differently (both the challenges and opportunities).

Become more mission hearted.

For some, short term mission opens the door to long term service but hopefully everyone becomes more mission hearted, both globally and locally.

So what, as a church minister, can I do to encourage good mission?

First, I can encourage people to ask questions about who they go with, what they go to do and why they want to go. As a church we encourage people to go with organisations who are signed up with global connections best practice and hopefully we do so in a way that affirms responsible mission engagement rather than pours cold water of people wanting to go.

Second, encourage a positive attitude to short term mission where those going seek to serve and be an encouragement, where they go to serve but also to have a long term view so that they might make a small contribution to the longer term mission. For all the difficulties, 'it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness'.

Third, to understand mission as a partnership. In a short visit the primary onus needs to be on learning and listening to others, to stand alongside them as partners in the global mission of God. We in the UK have lots to learn from the global church and we are privileged to be able to do so.

I’m committed to global mission and to encouraging the UK church to play a full part in it – what about you?

August 08, 2016

Our spending on ice cream is enough to give everyone in the world a basic education. Just one of the random facts I’ve learned from reading Interserve’s Mission life and practice series.

The series of nine short booklets gives an overview of key issues for those thinking about global mission: either as those looking to go overseas or those (particularly churches and ministers) looking to support them. The booklets cover broad subjects like the Biblical basis of mission; the history of missions; thinking about cross cultural mission in a pluralist world. However, they also cover practical subjects like funding mission, spirituality for the long-haul, taking risks and working with others to engage in the great commission. And my favourite thinking about mission in a changing world and the place of mission societies in this.

For me they form a helpful addition to my recent training week with BMS. For the most part the booklets, which are all fairly short, don’t contain much that’s new: rather they are making me think about subjects from a fresh perspective. However, as well as helping me think about my involvement in mission I also believe they would be helpful to any church which seeks to engage in global mission and who is supporting Church Members in their work overseas. And if you are considering whether you should be going overseas they would be a really helpful part of your preparation.

The booklets include lots of reflection questions, which means they could easily be used with small groups, and have both footnotes and Bibliographies enabling further reading. While it is primarily focused on global mission there is lots that is applicable to mission in the UK as well.

I’ve one confession, which is that I know very little about Interserve and am not aware of anyone I know serving with them. But their thinking about the changing face of mission and mission organisations feels spot on to me. The existing paradigm, where churches contract out global mission to other agencies, is dying. As is notion of the UK being a sender: sure we will continue to send people but we also need to receive missionaries from other parts of the world and we need to adjust to the influx of people into the UK (whether as refugees, migrants, students or business people) and the opportunities that provides. The future for mission agencies, it seems to me, is to be facilitators and mentors, encouraging churches to share in God’s mission.

And Ice cream? Well according to an article in the New York Times, Europe spends more money each year on Ice cream (and the US more on cosmetics) than it would cost to provide basic education to everyone on the planet, or everyone with basic water and sanitation.

July 29, 2016

Life is like sitting on a chair, you don’t get to choose the chair but you can decide how to sit on it. The last day of mission training had more of a focus on helping us to thrive rather than just survive whilst overseas.

Again there was input: a session on Animism and a session on culturally relevant communication (which was as applicable to the UK as overseas) and some stuff around safeguarding, insurance and health and safety. But the focus was on reflective approaches to mission, thinking about our own expectations (which might not be met) and the places we are involved in serving. My quote of the day was “Resilience is not a passive sport”.

Overall it has been a great course. It’s packed with content which has tried to weave some theological background, cultural orientation, skills to keep you safe & sane and practical tips to help you fit into a team. I’d recommend it to others going overseas – BMS happily train people going with other agencies / organisations, particularly those who don’t have preparation courses of their own. There is also lots in the course which helps us think about mission in the UK and how to sustain ministry. The course is practical but thoughtful, extensive but focused, encouraging but realistic and totally worth it.

It will take me a while to process everything we covered, I wondered a few times during the week whether a stronger understanding of Calvin’s doctrine of depravity might inform our understanding of mission (but managed to resist asking). However, I did think there were two things in the course that BMS could use in the input they provide to ministers conferences (my mind wonders in strange ways). First, in creating a seminar that looks at how to encourage and support people in short term mission. Second, in looking at UK contexts and helping us appreciate the other world views that are not woven into UK society by global migration.

July 27, 2016

“Mission is something we do with God, we can be the catalyst God uses” is my quote of the day from day 3 of mission training. However, the effectiveness of a catalyst in a reaction can depend on several factors and we want to create positive reactions and much of today revolved around how we can grow in effectiveness in mission.

Our classroom for the week

Today’s sessions included practical stuff about health and well being, mostly familiar advice around trying not to get sick (which I guess has become second nature to me over the years) but also some things about maintaining emotional health which I really should pay attention to in the UK as well as overseas. A session about mission and evangelism which was perhaps more focused on how we can reach out in the UK than overseas and another session about spirituality and how we can develop the kinds of attributes and habits that will sustain us. Whilst a talk I could have done myself it was great listening to Mark Ord using Stanley Hauerwas’ ideas as the basis for forming missionaries – it gets my vote for the most theologically insightful talk of the week.

The session that taught and challenged me the most was the one on cultural orientation and “honour and shame”. This looked at how human culture responds in three different ways to questions of sin: individualistic societies like US and UK respond with guilt; many others (particularly in Africa, the middle and far East) respond with shame and work to restore honour (of family etc) in the eyes of the community; and others respond with fear (where people are afraid of evil spirits). Whilst I’ve been aware that shame has a part to play in honour killings (as seen in the news this week) and that it is part of the cultural context of Scripture I have really never seen it as a complete worldview which colours how people see the world. It’s an insight which immediately helps me make sense of some stuff in Peru and other parts of the world – I suspect it will be the biggest take away of the week, in terms of things I’ve learned.

It has also been good getting to know some of the other course participants, their hopes, dreams and plans for the future as well as responding to one who asked me “I know it’s more than just Sundays but what does a minister do with their time”

July 26, 2016

How fast can you stuff a tiger? Each session of the short term volunteer training comes up fast on the last. From 8:30 am to 8pm at night, with little time between the sessions, in the last 24 hours we’ve considered questions ranging from “what is the gospel” – which got people really animated – to “what is culture shock and how do people respond to it?” as we considered incarnational living and how it affects us, to “what glasses do we use to read the Bible?” and “what does healthy / unhealthy spirituality look like?”

Creating a course which is ‘one size fits all’ but which covers all the basic themes isn’t easy, I’ve not had a chance to chat with anyone about the thinking behind the course curriculum but there’s clearly a desire to weave three elements together. 1) A brief exposure to some key theological questions: these sessions focus mostly on the question rather than giving a solution which isn’t a surprise since you could do a University module on each one and still only scratch the surface. 2) Helping students think about their own culture, worldview and assumptions as well as being attentive to other peoples. These sessions tend to include more teaching and discussion of examples. Personally it has been good to think about my experiences of both Peru and New Zealand in this. 3) Consideration of issues to help volunteers survive on the mission field. Issues such as maintaining health (physical, emotional, spiritual), working in teams, health and safety, communications and ethical behaviour. The speed of the course means that you are only getting little tasters but the notes and follow up material is enough to help people learn more and at least know where to look for further help if needed in the years ahead.

I’m also learning a bit about the other folk on the course. Half of them are much younger than me: friendly, enthusiastic and looking forward to getting stuck in to their mission situation, most are post University and a couple are professionals (teacher / doctor). The other half are equally positive but are older (like me) who are weaving global mission work with other UK responsibilities (two of us are Baptist Ministers). But overall we are a classic example of a how there is a short term mission space for anyone, whatever your skills. Some approached BMS with a clear aim to serve, some simply contacted them and said something like, “this is who I am, this is the time I can give, do you have something I can usefully do”. And not everyone doing the course either comes from a Baptist church or is going to serve with BMS either!

We’ve also had a reminder that mission isn’t easy and you don’t always get to ‘stay safe’. A short reflective session led by someone who has recently returned from serving in an area of global instability, where in recent years a number of team members (not BMS folk) were killed, underlines that mission is about service it is not a walk in the park.

And the tiger? Well this evening’s session included a Myers-Briggs test and discussion of the different work, communication and team preferences we have – and according to the picture chart of the different personality types, I am a tiger.

More tomorrow..... but here's a clip they used to introduce the idea of culture shock. It's of some boys from Sudan who go to the US.

July 25, 2016

Mission is an extreme sport. And to help me get in shape I'm spending this week at the BMS World Mission training centre in Birmingham (UK) doing the course they run to prepare people for going overseas as short / mid term volunteers.

It's a strange experience being a student, these days I spend lots of time in front of people teaching and preaching so it is good to explore the feelings that come with being the learner not the facilitator. We are a mixed group of ages, the youngest is 18, most are in their 20's and the oldest is 60. Everyone (I think) has some experience of short term overseas mission (even if only a couple of weeks). Two of us are involved in repeated short term trips, several are going overseas for a year or two and the remainder for shorter term trips. The majority are headed to India and Nepal, a couple to France, two to countries in Africa, me to Peru and one somewhere else.

Mission is about loving, giving and sending but in order to be effective we need to be aware of how we view the world and who we are working with. So the main elements of the course speed through sessions to help us think about mission, the gospel our worldview and so on. There are also sessions on practical topics, so today we have had one on bribery (don't!) and communication (writing prayer letters, funky blog posts etc) - as part of the communication session this afternoon we had to write a short engaging blog post with a catchy title and engaging opening paragraph. As you can see I used these at the start of this but then returned to normal. The course is intensive from 8:30 in the morning to 8pm ish at night, with opportunities for extra reading / homework.

Over the next couple of days I'll try and write a bit about each day... so from day 1 here are some questions to ponder:

Is our view of mission, something we do or which God does? (And are holistic understanding of mission predecated on the assumption that it is something we do?)

June 24, 2016

So the votes are counted. The result was close but is for ‘Leave’ which has created a sense of shock and disbelief with whiff of crisis. What follows is my own reaction to events rather than a thought through roadmap for progress.

The trouble with a referendum is that it is a blunt instrument. At a General Election people vote for parties who put forward policies. We chose who to vote for based on a range of factors which includes the recognition that parties themselves are a coalition of ideas and values. And we have an expectation that whoever forms the government will seek to enact some of their manifesto promises. I say ‘some’ because we also recognise that things are not always clear cut, opposition to certain measures makes it hard to get them agreed and events overtake plans. This is often decried as ‘broken promises’ but is also about real government having to make real choices. By contrast a referendum asks a straight question with little nuance. It’s result is not an agreement to back one political party but one particular idea. In this case an idea that’s not part of the policy of any political party. All of which now creates confusion. No one knows what is next, nor how we agree a way of processing what is next.

Politics is often a brutal business so it is no surprise to see David Cameron announcing his intention to resign and may yet see Jeremy Corbyn lose his job. But it is also a complex business. Vote leave won because a significant number (a third) of Labour voters voted leave. We’ve known the Conservative party and voters have been split on this for decades. But what were the vote leave people voting for? The leading ‘vote leave’ voices (Gove, Hannan etc) are right of centre politicians and one would expect them to argue from that perspective, especially since they will have a greater say in government policy. Yet it would be fair to assume that the labour voters were not voting leave in order to have a purer right wing government or country. But that is a likely outcome, particularly if it results in Scottish Independence. If, as seems plausible, many labour voters choose ‘out’ because of a sense of dissatisfaction with politics and government; their frustration will only grow in the years ahead.

Polling also suggests growing divisions between London and the rest of the UK (which may be part of the Labour parties woes) and between young and old. The exact figures may change but it appears that the over 65’s voted in large measure for leave, the under 45’s in large measure for remain.

Once the shock has died down attention will need to turn to finding ways forward. And there are positive possibilities for the UK. When the UK economy had the seismic shock of Black Wednesday it went on to lead to a time of economic boom. The possibility of more open trading with some of the world’s most dynamic economies promises opportunities for us.

We have the opportunity to build a strong independent nation, based on trade and cultural ties rather than projecting power. We can seek to be internationalist, building ties across the world to insure that independence doesn’t mean isolation.

This will not be easy. The future depends not solely on the UK but on our European neighbours as well. How they respond may well have a bigger impact than how we do. The first instincts, particularly of the European Commission may well be to rally the wagons, stop the rot and ensure that there is no contagion. In time this will give way to something else, the question is what? A desire to punish the UK is likely to damage both us and the remaining EU members, but maybe seen as a price worth paying to keep the European project moving forward. A negotiation towards a different type of Europe, with a larger outer tier is a possibility and whilst it seems unlikely giving that ‘two speed’ options have been largely rejected in the past it may gain traction, especially if the economic fallout damages the Euro further.

Negotiations might also lead to another referendum. The EU has history of enabling countries to have a second referendum when things didn’t go as planned. However, this would require the UK government to negotiate to bring one about; possibly by negotiating the terms of exit and putting that to the electorate. It is far from clear that anyone wants to try this.

As Christians we have something positive to offer. Our experience of Church Meetings and of seeking unity offers lessons in the need to listen to one another and build consensus where possible.

Our worship gives us practices which can express shock and enable us to lament what this process has said about our country. This referendum has opened up rivers of bile and unleased the dogs of hate; things which are corrosive to our public life and common good.

Our experience of God’s grace teaches us to be hospitable and compassionate to others and we can express this to those who voted differently to us in the referendum, those from foreign countries who now reside in the UK and those refugees who are fleeing war.

We need to pray and denominational leaders are making that call today, but in our praying we need to be willing to engage in the public square, take part in the political process and seek to work for the common good, not simply of the UK but the good of Europe and the wider world.

May 16, 2016

The 06:30 train from Macclesfield on a cold Saturday morning is not normally something to celebrate but it was the first leg of a great day attending the Baptist Assembly. This year held in Oxford.

The day packed a lot into a short timeframe and was a significant improvement on last year. The morning started with worship and an introduction to the day by the excellent Rev Beth Allison-Glenny, followed by a session reviewing the life of the Baptist Union (and the AGM). Included in this were updates on aspects of Baptist life, a little about the vision and values of the Union and a short address by Didi Oprenova from Sofia Baptist Church, Bulgaria and Vice-President of the Baptist World Alliance. Didi was good, sharing some of her experiences as a teenage Christian in Bulgaria and the need to endure; she should be invited back. The rest of the session was OK, it’s always hard to cram lots of things into a limited time but the fact that it sometimes feels disjointed is a flag to us that we haven’t yet sufficiently grappled with a vision for the Union as a whole (which has depth and diversity) nor developed a way of communicating as a movement (which inspires churches yet collaborates with them). Stephen Keyworth was notable for his gracious tone in explaining the recent discussions on SSM where it is blatantly obvious we do not all agree. The AGM part needs some work and some decisions about what needs to be included: for example, if we need to receive accounts people need a decent overview of the numbers and a vote which includes those for, against and abstaining rather than a couple of incomplete and decontextualized powerpoint slides and an opportunity to gesticulate some vague acceptance. Conversely, if we don’t think it is important to receive accounts lets change the system! [And let's not loose sight of the issue that we've not yet found a way of enabling corporate discernment as part of Assembly.]

One of the flames pinned to a prayer wall. The elephant image was designed by Rev Dawn Cole-Savidge of Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church

Lunch time included a variety of options, with a few short seminars (the one I listened to was good) and some ‘Soapbox’ conversations where someone shared for a few minutes on a subject they were passionate about. These conversations were in a hall which had lots of noise making it harder for people to hear – but it was a great idea and should be repeated.

The first afternoon session was the BMS: World Mission update. As always it included some good stories of work being done, this year used to explain and illustrate the updated mission strategy for 2016-2020. The second gave an extended opportunity to think about the current refugee situation and included some examples of how Baptists are involved in trying to provide help and relief. It was right and important that we gave time to this; it is one of the biggest issues facing our continent and our political response as a nation is often shameful – we must to more and we need to support and encourage those who are making a contribution in this area.

The final celebration included moving people to sit among people from the same association (which worked much better than I thought it would). It was great to recognise new ministers and mission personnel and include In Memoriam in fitting ways (though I still think we should have invited back those who missed out last year). Personally I was happy with the corporate worship (I must be getting old because I really don’t need it that loud) but there were a couple of occasions when I wondered if we might do more to recognise the diversity of styles across our Union and there isn’t any excuse for not using inclusive language.

So overall a good day. The teams of people who worked to put it together did a good job and deserve thanks.

And yet as I sat on the train home I reflected that I feel increasingly distant from ‘The Union’. For all the changes in recent years it feels even more that the power is held by a distant group and that I’m not a stakeholder in what is said or done, it is ‘their Union’ and I’m not a part of it nor do I have any meaningful way of being part of it. This might say as much about me as about the Union of course, but if others share my feelings it means that energy which might be devoted to building up Baptist life is being invested elsewhere.

May 13, 2016

Following on from my previous posts about mission we used the Sundays leading up to Easter to run a short series called ‘Finding your way back to God’. This was based on the book by Jon and Dave Ferguson. However, as well as the book itself they produce sermon outlines, powerpoint sides, testimony videos to use in the sermons, videos to explain the main points to those preparing sermons, small group resources and other things.

It is very well put together, and although obviously produced in the US, has a feel that works well in the UK as well.

The series is based on five weeks, each based on an ‘awakening’ and taking aspects of the parable of the prodigal son from Luke 14. Overall it goes something like this:

Week 1: Awakening to Longing.

We all have a longing to love and to be loved; we want to find purpose for our days and to make sense of life (even when it doesn’t seem to make any sense). That longing is from God and intended to lead us back to him.

Week 2: Awakening to regret

When we try and fulfil our longings for love, purpose and meaning on our own, we find disappointment. The regret we feel can either lead to more longing and regret, or inspire us to seek help. We don’t have to waste time on regret, self-condemnation or feeling stuck; we can let the disappointment move us in God’s direction.

Week 3: Awakening to help

Until we admit that we are powerless on our own to find fulfilment in life we will never truly find our way back to God. You might try to change but we need help to get out of the cycle of longing, disappointment and regret. You need help. Help has a name, his name is Jesus and every time you turn away from self-centeredness and pride, he will be there to rescue, strengthen and guide you.

Week 4: Awakening to love

We experience the irresistible love of God in Jesus when we return home to our Father. As we awaken to God’s love, we can trust in God and believe in his faithful care through the ups and downs of life. God’s love has the power to heal us, change us and motivate us to serve him with our whole lives. We never need to let doubt or discouragement take away what we know to be true of God or our identity in him.

Week 5: Awakening to life

You have turned around and asked the Father for help. The awakening to life brings with it unexpected influence and opportunities – because Jesus is alive in you, and that changes everything. Hope instead of despair, love instead of hate, purpose instead of confusion. Let’s work together to help others find their way back to God.

The heart of the series is to help those who have not become Christians to explore doing so. The first week invites participants to pray, “God, if you are real then make yourself real to me”. But as well as helping those on the edges of church life to discover more it is a great way to help a church develop a culture of invitation and mission. We may want to use a variety of ways to communicate God’s grace and love but we all want to help people find their way back to God.

If you fancy using the series you can find out more from the website and download the materials yourself.